Enabling the Avignon papacy. The implicit legitimation of a contested institution (1309-1377)

该项目分析了14世纪作为一个有争议的机构的阿维尼翁教皇职位。同时，教皇是权变观察的对象，这将其置于由教皇、红衣主教和教廷的实际行动以及现有的替代行动选择所定义的可能性的范围内。这样，教皇的世俗和精神统治就可以作为可能的替代方案而被遵守。因此，教皇认为自己受到了挑战，不是作为一个机构，而是在行动中。它通过证明自己的行为是正当的，从而使自己的行为合法化。预计被起诉的人会认识到这一点。通过遵循行动原则，教皇为其有权统治的主张辩护：教皇见多识广，他们按照一般原则行事，同时以适合情况的方式行事，他们拥有必要的权力手段，知道如何有益地使用这些手段，因此能够有远见地行事，这在教皇的信件和宪章中得到了强调。通过这种方式，教皇的权力主张通过他们的实际实现得到了保障。因此，教皇的决定和行动的偶然性没有被否定，而是得到了承认。对于14世纪的教皇来说，正是它利用现有可能性空间的能力确保了它的合法性。

The project analyses the Avignon papacy in the 14th century as a contested institution. Contemporarily, the papacy was the object of contingency observations, which placed it within a horizon of possibilities that was defined by the actual actions of the popes, cardinals and curials as well as by existing options for alternative actions. In this way, papal secular and spiritual rule could be observed as contingent with regard to possible alternatives. As a result, the papacy saw itself as being challenged, not as an institution, but in its actions. It legitimised its actions by demonstrating that they were justified. The people to whom the action was addressed were expected to recognise this justification. By following principles of action, the papacy justified its claim to be entitled to rule: That the popes were well-informed and well-advised, that they acted according to general principles and at the same time in a manner appropriate to the situation, that they possessed the necessary means of power and knew how to use them beneficially and were thus able to act with foresight, was emphasised in papal letters and charters. In this way, the papal power claims were secured through their practical realisation. The contingency of papal decisions and actions was thus not negated but acknowledged. For the papacy of the 14th century, it was precisely its ability to take advantage of the available space of possibilities that ensured its legitimacy.